Tulips and Wine

“The Jansen family estate in Sonoma was exquisite. Entering the foyer and looking left, the dining room featured high ceilings, a large mahogany table, and one of the most famous pieces of art in the world. The Dutch artist De Jong’s piece, entitled Tulip Mania, was an abstract piece of art. The planks were eight feet tall and ten feet wide when put together. The colorful oil paints were supposed to represent tulips in full bloom. Most importantly at the time, the planks fit perfectly on the dining room wall. The Jansen family had entered the wine business at the perfect time and had made handsome profits.

After a disagreement, the Jansen family lost their best vintner. Their wine business soon began to dry up. One night, a mysterious fire burned part of the family’s estate. It was speculated that the Jansens desperately needed the insurance money to keep the business going. Eventually, the house was sold, and the Jansen family moved to a more modest house. Karel Jansen decided to move the artwork to the new house. However, in order to move it, he cut it into four equal sized pieces to be used as coffee table tops. Karel struggled and kept the wine business going, but he could not maintain the payments on the more modest house. Soon he and his family had moved to an even smaller house in Sonoma. Karel no longer had room for four coffee tables. He again cut down his favorite piece of art into sixteen serving trays.

Karel’s skill with the artwork was evident. The serving trays were more beautiful than the coffee tables and nearly as beautiful as the grand artwork that once was on the old dining room wall. However, the Jansen family’s finances had lost all of their beauty, and their winery was nearing bankruptcy. Karel decided to sell his house one last time and move his family into a small studio apartment. His last act before his death was to cut his serving trays down into decorative coasters. Karel boxed them up and died of a broken heart shortly thereafter.

Karel’s son Johann had recently turned twenty-one. He had grown up around the winery working odd jobs from cleaning to bottling to corking. Johann was young but intelligent, with a flair for business and a creative vision. Being the only son of Karel, the winery was his, as were the family’s failing finances.

Shortly after his father’s death, Johann received news from Europe. The De Jong Museum in Amsterdam had recently been severely damaged by an accidental fire. Johann rushed to the bedroom closet and pulled out a box of coasters. Using his unique vision and the winery tools, Johann was able to restore the coasters to their original planks, and the De Jong piece was as beautiful as ever. After a few phone calls to the De Jong Museum, Johann had sold his father’s piece of art for a record price. After a few more phone calls, Johann had also bought back his father’s house, which had been majestically restored to its original splendor. Having plenty of money still to spare, Johann set about investing in himself and his winery, and that is how the award-winning brand really got going.”

She looked across the table at him. “You really know a lot about my glass of merlot, and you are a pretty good storyteller.”

“I am having a glass of Johann Jansen’s pinot grigio. Would you like to hear the story behind that one as well?”

He gave her a nervous smile; happy his story had not jeopardized their relationship on the first date. John had grown up around Sonoma and loved the history of the wineries in the area. However, he understood not everyone loved history as much as him, but he just happened to be talking to the right person this time.

“Why don’t you save the story about my grandfather’s pinot grigio for our second date? I can let you know how close you are on that one. Your rendition of my family’s merlot is nearly spot on.”

“I am finding it hard to pick up my chin,” John said after a pause. “I guess I didn’t ask your last name when I asked you on this date.”

“I hope you can pick up your chin. I would like to show you the original family estate on our next date. We just received a replica of the De Jong piece for the dining room wall. After all these years, the house is perfect again.”